Concerts back at center court

NEW YORK - From Billie Jean King to the Beatles, Jimmy Connors to Jimi Hendrix.

NEW YORK — From Billie Jean King to the Beatles, Jimmy Connors to Jimi Hendrix.

For decades, the stadium at the West Side Tennis Club was not only host of the U.S. Open but it also was a stirring music venue tucked into Queens’ Forest Hills neighborhood.

That heyday came to an end in 1978 when the Open moved 3 miles away to Flushing Meadows. The horseshoe-shaped stadium at Forest Hills quickly became a relic, and its days as a music venue faded as well amid complaints from neighbors about noise and crowds.

But a plan is in the works to revive the sound of music at the 16,000-seat Forest Hills stadium.

“We were once the center of the tennis universe,” club president Roland Meier said. “And this is our revival.”

It begins on Aug. 28 with a concert featuring the British band Mumford & Sons, which will serve as a test to convince neighbors that such performances won’t create too much of a disturbance. If all goes well, club officials and a promoter are aiming to stage 18 more concerts in the next three or four years.